Joe Chetcuti
11-02-2005, 02:54 PM
"Boardman & Boardman gathered up a great mass of evidence against (Doctor Tumblety.)" - Attorney William P. Burr quoted in The Rochester Democrat & Republican Dec 3, 1888.
I've been at this for a year, but I still haven't found the records of this 19th century NY law firm called Boardman & Boardman. I've made progress on it though, and if I had to place a wager, I'd say the last man to have possession of these law files would have been a NY judge named Charles J. McDermott. I've taken this as far as I could so now I'm just going to dump what I've got on all you innocent folks, and if anyone wants to pursue this on their own...hey go ahead. I'll happily pass the baton to you. At least I can give you a decent head start.
The Boardman & Boardman law firm was located at 155 Broadway, New York City. The firm was comprised of three attorneys named Boardman. The father and son duo of Andrew & Edward Boardman, plus Andrew's younger brother Samuel Boardman. In 1854 at the age of 42, Andrew Boardman entered the law office of Jesse W. Benedict, and he was taught the ropes. According to the NY Times, the law firm of Benedict & Boardman became "second to none in NY on questions of commercial law."
When NY's Association of the Bar was founded in 1870, Andrew Boardman was one of its original members. In 1871, Mr. Benedict retired, and the firm's name changed to Boardman & Boardman. The added name being Samuel Boardman. Samuel had worked for Benedict & Boardman from 1860-1871 so he was no greenhorn.
The "great mass of evidence" which the Boardman & Boardman firm gathered against Tumblety was presented in a NY trial which took place in 1880. It must have been solid evidence because Tumblety lost this civil case. I contacted the City of NY's Association of the Bar and asked if they retained any records from the Boardman & Boardman law firm. The Director of Library Operations answered, "No, but old law firm records were sometimes donated in that time period to the law school of one of the firm's lawyers. So once you get the name of the law school these Boardmans graduated from, it may help you." That sounded fair enough, so I gave it a whirl.
I checked Andrew Boardman's May 12, 1881 obituary in the NY Times and it said that the only law education he received was from his old partner Mr. Benedict. Samuel Boardman's March 17, 1893 obituary said he studied law under the tutelage of his brother Andrew. Samuel retired in 1883, leaving only his 32 year old nephew Edward C. Boardman as the last Boardman attorney working for their firm.
I looked up Edward's Jan 2, 1901 obituary. It read, "Edward C. Boardman of the firm Boardman & Boardman, 155 Broadway, died yesterday at his home in Garden City, NJ. He was about fifty years old. He was born in New York City and was a graduate of Columbia Law School."
I contacted the Columbia Law School's Diamond Law Library and asked if Edward C. Boardman's family donated the Boardman & Boardman law firm's records to them back in 1901. Their answer was:
"Edward Chadwick Boardman was an 1873 graduate of Columbia Law School. He died in 1901. The law library has no papers of Edward C. Boardman, nor does the main library on campus (Butler Library.) If the firm was taken over or took another partner (and renamed) upon Edward Boardman's death, there may be papers somewhere."
So you want to be a 19th century researcher, eh? Ok, so I contacted the County Clerk of NY and asked for the Boardman & Boardman business license from 1901. I wanted to see if somebody bought their business license out. Well, the County Clerk had one item on in their files on the Boardman & Boardman firm. It was their business license dated Sept 10, 1900!! Less than four months before Edward died, he designated two attorneys to conduct business under the Boardman & Boardman name. These two men were the father and son duo of James & Charles McDermott.
These two would advertise in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle under the McDermott & McDermott name right after Edward Boardman had died. They retained that 155 Broadway address as well. So they must have continued to represent the Boardman & Boardman clients and retained that firm's records. The McDermott & McDermott law firm dissolved in 1912. The son, Charles J. McDermott would become a NY judge. Charles also became the President of the Brooklyn Bar Association and a trustee for Washington & Lee University of Lexington, Virginia. I've checked, but neither of those two places have the Boardman & Boardman papers. Charles McDermott also was a graduate of Columbia Law School, but the Boardman & Boardman records aren't found at Columbia under his name.
Charles J. McDermott probably was the last man to have the Boardman & Boardman records. At the time of his Dec 19, 1941 death, he left a widow, a son, and a daughter. If anybody is interested in pursuing this further, you can contact me privately and I'll give the rest of the details. Yeah yeah, I know...the Boardman & Boardman records could have been chucked into a fireplace many years ago!!!
I've been at this for a year, but I still haven't found the records of this 19th century NY law firm called Boardman & Boardman. I've made progress on it though, and if I had to place a wager, I'd say the last man to have possession of these law files would have been a NY judge named Charles J. McDermott. I've taken this as far as I could so now I'm just going to dump what I've got on all you innocent folks, and if anyone wants to pursue this on their own...hey go ahead. I'll happily pass the baton to you. At least I can give you a decent head start.
The Boardman & Boardman law firm was located at 155 Broadway, New York City. The firm was comprised of three attorneys named Boardman. The father and son duo of Andrew & Edward Boardman, plus Andrew's younger brother Samuel Boardman. In 1854 at the age of 42, Andrew Boardman entered the law office of Jesse W. Benedict, and he was taught the ropes. According to the NY Times, the law firm of Benedict & Boardman became "second to none in NY on questions of commercial law."
When NY's Association of the Bar was founded in 1870, Andrew Boardman was one of its original members. In 1871, Mr. Benedict retired, and the firm's name changed to Boardman & Boardman. The added name being Samuel Boardman. Samuel had worked for Benedict & Boardman from 1860-1871 so he was no greenhorn.
The "great mass of evidence" which the Boardman & Boardman firm gathered against Tumblety was presented in a NY trial which took place in 1880. It must have been solid evidence because Tumblety lost this civil case. I contacted the City of NY's Association of the Bar and asked if they retained any records from the Boardman & Boardman law firm. The Director of Library Operations answered, "No, but old law firm records were sometimes donated in that time period to the law school of one of the firm's lawyers. So once you get the name of the law school these Boardmans graduated from, it may help you." That sounded fair enough, so I gave it a whirl.
I checked Andrew Boardman's May 12, 1881 obituary in the NY Times and it said that the only law education he received was from his old partner Mr. Benedict. Samuel Boardman's March 17, 1893 obituary said he studied law under the tutelage of his brother Andrew. Samuel retired in 1883, leaving only his 32 year old nephew Edward C. Boardman as the last Boardman attorney working for their firm.
I looked up Edward's Jan 2, 1901 obituary. It read, "Edward C. Boardman of the firm Boardman & Boardman, 155 Broadway, died yesterday at his home in Garden City, NJ. He was about fifty years old. He was born in New York City and was a graduate of Columbia Law School."
I contacted the Columbia Law School's Diamond Law Library and asked if Edward C. Boardman's family donated the Boardman & Boardman law firm's records to them back in 1901. Their answer was:
"Edward Chadwick Boardman was an 1873 graduate of Columbia Law School. He died in 1901. The law library has no papers of Edward C. Boardman, nor does the main library on campus (Butler Library.) If the firm was taken over or took another partner (and renamed) upon Edward Boardman's death, there may be papers somewhere."
So you want to be a 19th century researcher, eh? Ok, so I contacted the County Clerk of NY and asked for the Boardman & Boardman business license from 1901. I wanted to see if somebody bought their business license out. Well, the County Clerk had one item on in their files on the Boardman & Boardman firm. It was their business license dated Sept 10, 1900!! Less than four months before Edward died, he designated two attorneys to conduct business under the Boardman & Boardman name. These two men were the father and son duo of James & Charles McDermott.
These two would advertise in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle under the McDermott & McDermott name right after Edward Boardman had died. They retained that 155 Broadway address as well. So they must have continued to represent the Boardman & Boardman clients and retained that firm's records. The McDermott & McDermott law firm dissolved in 1912. The son, Charles J. McDermott would become a NY judge. Charles also became the President of the Brooklyn Bar Association and a trustee for Washington & Lee University of Lexington, Virginia. I've checked, but neither of those two places have the Boardman & Boardman papers. Charles McDermott also was a graduate of Columbia Law School, but the Boardman & Boardman records aren't found at Columbia under his name.
Charles J. McDermott probably was the last man to have the Boardman & Boardman records. At the time of his Dec 19, 1941 death, he left a widow, a son, and a daughter. If anybody is interested in pursuing this further, you can contact me privately and I'll give the rest of the details. Yeah yeah, I know...the Boardman & Boardman records could have been chucked into a fireplace many years ago!!!